Directory of members
Dan Yashinsky
19 Kenwood Ave
Toronto ON M6C 2R8
Home/Résidence: 416-571-6721
Email/Courriel: dan_yashinsky@hotmail.comWebsite: http://www.tellery.com
Dan Yashinsky is a Toronto-based storyteller, author, and community animator. He received, in 1999, the first Jane Jacobs Prize for his work with storytelling in the community. He founded the Toronto Festival of Storytelling (in 1979) and co-founded Storytelling Toronto (formerly the Storytellers School of Toronto). He also began the longest-running open session in North America: 1,001 Friday Nights of Storytelling (in 1978). He has performed and taught at festivals in Israel, Wales, Norway, Sweden, England, Germany, Brazil, Austria, Poland, Hong Kong, France, the U.S., Singapore, Ireland, and across Canada.
Dan is the editor of four acclaimed collections of Canadian storytelling and the author of "Suddenly They Heard Footsteps — Storytelling for the Twenty-first Century," and "Swimming with Chaucer – A Storyteller’s Logbook." His recent books include "The Golden Apples," a remixed fairytale, and "I Am Full – Stories for Jacob," a grief memoir about his late son. "The Storyteller’s Ass," a collection of stories featuring donkeys, will be coming out in 2026. He developed and hosted Talking Stick, a national storytelling radio show on CBC. His work in schools includes creating the Telling Bee, a story-based curriculum project that has taken place in more than 40 Ontario schools. He has been a storyteller-in-residence for UNICEF Canada, Queen's University, Storytelling Toronto, Toronto Public Library, The Stop Community Food Centre, Baycrest Health Sciences. While at Baycrest, he developed, with social worker Melissa Tafler, an approach to storytelling in healthcare they call “storycare.” For info: www.storycare.ca.
His current projects include working with dancer/choreographer Annemarie Cabri on “becomings – a cycle of danced stories.” They have performed this work at the Warsaw International Storytelling Festival, Toronto International Storytelling Festival, and (in the fall of 2025), Carousel of Stories (Czech Republic) and Mezrab (Amsterdam). He is also involved in the Voicing Dance Project, an exploration of how to make dance engaging and moving for Blind/ Low Vision audiences.
Dan is available to teach and perform. His program “Storykeepers” is about how we remember the stories of our loved ones. It includes readings from "I Am Full – Stories for Jacob," and audience participation as people share their own stories. He also offers keynotes on the importance of storytelling in contemporary society, drawing on his experiences as a camp counsellor working with under-privileged children, and on his work in the areas of social justice, community development, and education. His storytelling workshop “The Red Thread of the Story” explores ways storytellers create suspense in spinning a tale.
